Further to my previous article on 29th June (LINK) we now have an OFFICIAL answer to the question.... Is it legal to use removable/external antennas on PMR446 radios?
Reply received today (04/08/2020) from OFCOM:
Firstly,
please accept my apologies for the delay in your receiving a reply from Ofcom
on this matter.
With regards to your query regarding use of antennas in PMR446 equipment, advice is to follow the text used in Interface Requirement 2030, we have noted your comment re the PMR446 Information Sheet and a revision will be issued to avoid confusion on this matter.
IR2030 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/84970/ir-2030.pdf
IR2030/34 PMR446 equipment is hand portable (no base station or repeater use) and uses integral antennas only in order to maximise sharing and minimise interference. PMR 446 equipment operates in short range peer-to-peer mode and shall be used neither as a part of infrastructure network nor as a repeater.
So that's it folks, the legal position is that PMR446 radios must have integral (Non-Removable) antennas. Great news also is that they will review and amend the PMR446 Information Sheet which caused some of the confusion.
The reply from OFCOM didn't go into the situation regarding non-standard radios but the above answer does mean that any radios used must meet the PMR446 specifications. In particular, radios must have FIXED antennas and must not have a power output greater than 500mw.
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